Uncharted: Golden Abyss Review

Yes, I am late in getting my PS Vita and playing this game, but here I am now. I will premise this review by quickly saying that the PS Vita is one great piece of hardware and I do regret not getting it sooner. As for the Uncharted series going to a handheld platform, I did rightfully have my concerns about how this game would play out. Let's face it, there have been many times when a franchise has been ported to a hand held device and becomes sub par, e.g. Black Ops Declassified currently. Granted there are a couple of issues that bothered me, I was pleased with my experience with this title.

Once again, Drake is in the hunt for secrets of the past. He has two new partners, Marisa Chase and Jason Dante. Victor Sullivan (Sully) is on the game as well, so that part is good. What i did not like is that there is no Elena Fisher (voiced by Emily Rose from Haven) or Chloe Frazer. I felt those two brought so much out of the Drake character and in this game Drake has to form a chemistry with a new female counterpart and even in a video game, one could tell the chemistry was not there. Not even Drakes relationship with Sully seems the same as in the previous console games. There seemed to be more sexual innuendo jokes between all the male characters that seemed more corny than clever. The villain has an overdone Mexican/Spanish accent that almost sounds middle eastern. Nolan North's voice acting was the saving grace for the subpar voice acting in comparison of what we are used to.

With the exception of the touch options, the controlling of the game was very similar to the console versions of the game. Nathan Drake does not get overloaded with weapon, he is still only equipped with two firearms and a machete is added to his arsenal, but has limited use. Therefore, swathing weapons is a cinch again by simply pressing either left on the D-pad for a handgun and right for an automatic weapon. When the machete is needed a machete icon brightens on the screen. You touch it and swipe your finger along the screen in the direction the on screen arrow shows you. There are also times a fist icon will brighten on the screen for hand to hand combat or stealth attacks. During hand to hand combat, the arrows will come on screen again in which you have to swipe your finger on the screen in the direction shown. Do not be too slow on this or you could be killed on the next hit.

The flow of the story is good despite some execution flaws. As in typical Uncharted style, there are quite a few cutscenes in which sometimes it may seem like we are watching a movie. That does not really bother me much since I am a fan of the stories in the series, and even though this one is not as strong, it is still entertaining. Nathan Drake's random utterances are as witty as before and his dialogue seems so natural due to the fact the Nolan North basically uses his normal speaking voice for the Nathan Drake character.

There are some frustrating parts where you will find yourself having to repeat scenes due to getting Drake killed. When playing anything above normal level, you will die and die often. As frustrating as it may get, it does not get to the point of wanting to rage quite. With me, it just motivated me to really want to get past those parts. This game can be both simple and challenging depending on the difficulty setting, but enjoyable either way you go. Another frustrating part is the use of the touch screen at times. There are times when you have to finger swipe the screen and if you are just a little off from the arrow, it will get you killed in hand to hand combat. At times, you have to be careful with making contact with the rear of the vita because that can affect what will happen on the game. I have heard complaints about having to hold the Vita up to the light to read some notes. I have only done one play\through and during that play through I only had to hold the Vita up to the light once. You are not having to spend all your time doing that, so don't worry if that is a concern of yours.

Over all, this was about as good as one can expect from a hand held game. It met the expectations I had yet it also has room for improvement. It had a typical Uncharted ending that does not really leave one wondering. I do wish that either Elena or Chloe was involved, but maybe in the next game, because I truly Uncharted will have a separate franchise for the Vita. If you are a trophy hunter, trophies are not hard to get, but they are very time consuming. Currently I am working to platinum this game, but I do know it will take a long while due to the tedious nature of the trophies. If you have a Vita and are a fan of the Uncharted series, I do recommend this game. No, this is not a game that one should purchase the Vita for (Vita is mainly bought by Sony fans and not the casual fan anyway) but a Vita owner should not go without playing this game. Also, if you are a PS Plus subscriber, you do not have to pay anything extra for it. On that note, there is really not an excuse to not play it.